Wednesday, March 19, 2008

My favorite way is fresh off the neighbor's tree when they're not home. After that, this is my favorite raw apple dish - the ancient and excellent, Waldorf salad. It's a shame how some of the greatest American recipes fall out of fashion, and get lost in foamy waves of new, cutting edge cuisine.

The ingeniously delicious Waldorf salad is a great example. Why isn’t this very healthy, and addictive, salad on every menu in the country? It's a masterpiece of perfectly paired tastes and textures. Sweet, crisp, juicy apples, aromatic celery, exploding grapes, and crunchy walnuts - all brought together with a light and creamy lemon dressing.

This tasty bit of culinary Americana was invented by Oscar Tschirky, the maître d'hôtel of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. It first appeared in 1896, much to the delight of the early "ladies who lunch." Old Oscar is also credited with creating another classic - eggs Benedict. Do yourself a favor and whip up a batch of Waldorf soon. This is a fairly basic version (which I believe is best), but dried fruit is also a common addition. Enjoy!Click here for ingredients and transcript

Well my family sure doesn't forget it. My brother would have a screaming hissy fit if we didn't make this salad for every major holiday. It's actually the only way I do really enjoy apples, which I find otherwise pretty boring. We don't add celery to ours (we are not traditional in that sense) but it actually looks good. I think I'd like the extra crunch. Thanks for posting!

Not having an ingredient list is a bit annoying.. I've been making a version of this for many years. I got tired of the mayo so use an oil and vinegar with a bit of Dijon mustard. I substitute fennel for the celery though I sometimes use half of each. I don't use grapes but do add greens and sometimes dried cranberries and always toasted walnuts or pecans.